JCast Network

We had the opportunity to attend the NY Intentional Gift Fair and good a first look into some innovative holiday, wedding and bar/bat mitzvah gifts. Drawing 35,000 attendees from all 50 states and 80+ countries, the NYIGF is produced twice annually by GLM Shows and is open to the trade only. Held in January and August in New York City, the Fair hosts 2,800 exhibiting companies showcasing the very best lines across the home, lifestyle and gift spectrum.

How do you learn the skills to build a successful business? We had the opportunity to speak with Simcha Gluck, Senior Facilitator of FreshBiz. FreshBiz is a game that fundamentally changes the way its participants play their business and their life by simulating and then practicing new, creative methods of entrepreneurial thinking, and problem solving to achieve their most vital goals.

Through its game-based learning, participants travel through the game on a mission to win, while gaining skills, understandings and strategies that not only help them to achieve the goals in the game, but also to excel in their lives.

Utilizing common business practices, and years of insight from entrepreneurs, FreshBiz uses tools such as buying/selling businesses, leveraging, negotiations, loans, business opportunities and much more to simulate a business environment. Simultaneously, relationships are forged and the atmosphere of the room buzzes as participants engage with themselves and others in entrepreneurial, multi-dimensional thinking.

Insights gained during a 90-minute game last far into the future, as our participants claim that the game impacts them from the moment they play for the rest of their lives. There is a distinction between change and transformation. Working harder, doing something less, spending more time on something else etc… are change, while transformation through FreshBiz is what shifts your paradigm completely and creates the opportunity for you to play business, relationships, and life in a whole new way.

During the game, and in FreshBiz workshops, the following areas are addressed:

Learn what MDET (Multi Dimensional Entrepreneurial Thinking) is and how to utilize it to achieve quantum leaps in your business and your life!

You have a cause and you want to rally your community. How do you do it in a innovative and meangful way. We spoke with David Kramer, Founder of NU. Nu is an Israeli organization that is using fashion to help promote causes and make a diffrence. NU Campaign supports global causes & charitable organizations through the sale of unique designer t-shirts.

On the inside of every NU shirt, a unique message is printed by your HEART. This way, every time YOU wear your shirt, you feel inspired to carry it close to you and represent it out to the world!”

How do you build organizations and get funding to sustain projects? We spoke with Sandy Cardin President of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation about funding and creating innovative Jewish programs. When Charles and Lynn Schusterman established their family foundation in 1987, they were led by a fierce determination to contribute their time and resources to the two communities closest to their hearts: k’lal Yisrael—Jewish peoplehood—and the people in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Together Charles and Lynn worked to fashion a philanthropic agenda dedicated to expanding, enriching and enhancing these communities. More than 20 years later, what started as a one-office foundation engaged almost exclusively in grantmaking is now a global network of programs, organizations and foundations that still hold true to the mission and values Charles and Lynn established with their initial investment.

Our story is the story of these values brought to life—a philanthropic vision in action. It is the story of the incredibly talented, committed individuals and organizations that inspire us every day and, with our support, transform lives, build communities and touch hearts. It is the story of an organization shaped by the vision of Day One and by the experiences of every day thereafter.

GEI ONI interweaves a unique love story with the harsh realities of the first wave of Jewish European migration to the Ottoman-ruled Palestine of the 1880’s. Having survived a Russian pogrom in which all other members of her family were killed, 17 year-old Fania (in an award-winning debut performance by Tamar Alkan), her infant daughter, her elderly uncle, and her traumatized brother arrive at the port of Jaffa, with a harrowing secret and no means of support. Having no real choice, Fania marries Yechiel, a native Jew and young widower with two small children. Fania and Yechiel set out to his small settlement near Safed, where Yechiel and other daring pioneers are trying to cultivate the barren lands which they bought from local Arabs. Though Fania is burdened by her secret, without sharing it with her husband their marriage can not be consummated and their life together cannot truly begin. On another level, GEI ONI is the story of the beginning of the realization of the Jewish dream to return to the land of Zion in the late 19th century.

How do you build community? We had the opportunity to speak to Oren Kashi member of Moishe House Great Neck. Moishe House was founded in 2006 and has quickly grown from four friends hosting Shabbat dinners for young adults out of their home in Oakland, California, to 46 thriving centers of Jewish life, spanning 14 countries. Moishe House is the largest organization of its kind, serving an international cohort of more than 50,000 Jewish young adults around the world annually. Moishe House has become an essential component in serving the Jewish post-college young adult population, by providing opportunities for community involvement, Jewish learning and leadership.

THE MOISHE HOUSE MODEL

We have developed a creative, low-barrier, cost-effective and scalable model for building vibrant, peer-based Jewish communities and learning opportunities for Jewish young adults in their twenties. Given that emerging adults are the true experts on their generation, Moishe House cultivates young leaders to create Jewish community — on their own terms — for their peers, in ways that are meaningful and relevant.

Moishe House residents come from a wide variety of Jewish backgrounds and are selected for their demonstrated leadership abilities and outgoing personalities.

Working together as a team, the residents plan and host a diverse range of low-barrier religious, cultural and social events in their home, including Shabbat dinners, holiday celebrations, Repair the World programs, and more.

In addition to planning their own programs, the house residents also support existing community resources by partnering with local Jewish organizations such as JCCs, synagogues, federations, and other institutional providers.

The holidays are just around the corner and we got a first hand look at the newest gadgets and products on the market today. With over 120 participating companies and the support of the tech industry’s most prestigious media outlets, CEA Line Shows is a must-attend opportunity for every member of the media, retail, trade and analyst communities. If you want to know what’s happening in the all-important 4th quarter selling season then you need to find out first — and CEA Line Show is where you’ll see what’s new, what’s coming and what’s going to change the tech scene in the months ahead.

We had the opportunity to attend Presentense Launch Night NYC. We spoke with some young social entrepreneurs about their their innovative initiatives The PresenTense Group engages and inspires the most creative minds of our generation, investing in their ideas and energy to revitalize the Jewish community. PresenTense enables young Jews to have global conversations about new ideas and envision a better future. And when they’re eager to act upon these ideas, we educate and equip them for success.

In December 2000 JCINY had our first Shabbat dinner for Australians and South Africans living in the New York. From this event our community has grown to over 8,000 people over the past ten years and 78 couples met through JICNY. With an emphasis on high-quality programming and wide scale affiliation, JICNY is a United Nations of sorts, with people from all over the world gathering on a regular basis for social, cultural and religious events.

Our programs include a highly successful weekly Torah class, led by Steve Eisenberg, on the Upper West Side, followed by a unique second class, held in multiple languages which typically include English, Spanish, French and Russian. Other events include lectures, tours of the Lower East Side, picnics, Shabattons and retreats. We host a film club that raises money each month for a different charity. We also plan an annual learning mission to Israel that has enjoyed great success.

Our monthly Shabbat dinners feature guest speakers from around the world. We have less formal Shabbat meals and social events throughout the month, as well. Founder, Steve Eisenberg sets hundreds of young professionals up with welcoming places to have the Shabbat meal every year. Over the years founders, Gavin and Jodi Samuels have had over 10,000 people attend meals in their home. We recognize the interest and value of the Jewish international community in New York through all of our successes and for this reason we have created the JICNY Networking Group in order to expand on what we have previously been able to offer in the way of networking.

Living in a foreign country that is so diverse and independent, it is comforting to know that there is a place you can go where you will always be welcome; you will be able to explore your heritage and spirituality; and you will be supported by the community that surrounds you.

As technology evolves so does the way we learn and connect. We had the opportunity to attend the Jewish Futures Conference and spoke with leaders in the community about how they are utilizing technology to enhance the way they teach and engage their constituents. The Jewish Futures Conference brought together visionary thinkers, passionate individuals, and inspiring presentations in a conference designed to shift the horizon of our thinking in Jewish education. New ways of connecting are simultaneously posing challenges to traditional institutions and offering new opportunities for forging community and undertaking Jewish learning both locally and globally. The Jewish Futures Conference provided a space to imagine, learn and engage in purposeful and courageous conversation about the future of Jewish community and education and how it can thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s world.